Books About Divorce & Family Change
Page 1 of 2 · sorted by reading level
Stories about divorce, separation, and blended families — helping kids understand that family changes are not their fault.
119 books
This collection of 119 books about divorce & family change spans Grade 1–8. Reading level alone doesn't tell parents whether a book is right for a child — text difficulty and emotional weight grow at different rates, especially for strong, twice-exceptional, or sensitive readers. HootRated rates every book on this list for both, so you can match to your child's actual readiness on both axes.
Across this list, 32% of the titles are rated Gentle or Mild — appropriate for sensitive readers or kids reading ahead of their emotional comfort zone. 1% are rated Intense or Very Intense, with heavier thematic territory for readers ready to tackle weighty subjects. Average content intensity for the list is 2.7/5.
Use the intensity badges (color-coded green → red) to filter by emotional readiness rather than just age. For more on what each intensity level means, see our rating methodology.
Frozen
Elle D. Risco
Love in the Library
Maggie Tokuda-Hall
Kyle's Little Sister
BonHyung Jeong
The Storm in the Barn
The First Brothers
Joan E. Curren
Everett Anderson's 1-2-3
Lucille Clifton
Karen's Two Families
Ann M. Martin
Almost home
Joan Bauer
Broken Chains (Uptown Downtown Series)
Fearon
Emily's blue period
Cathleen Daly
Karen's stepmother
Ann M. Martin
Survival strategies of the almost brave
Jen White
Tall Tales
Karen Day
Tell me
Joan Bauer
tHe RiChEsT bOy iN ThE wOrlD
Lujan Trujillo Mark
Karen's turkey day
Ann M. Martin
Looking for Dad
Ellen Frances
Mary Anne Breaks the Rules
Ann M. Martin
Paula Danziger's Amber Brown is On the Move
Bruce Coville, Paula Danziger, Elizabeth Levy
Weekends with Max and his dad
Linda Urban
The many troubles of Andy Russell
David A. Adler
Mary Anne to the rescue
Ann M. Martin
Our Canadian Girl Penelope #2 the Glass Castle
Sharon E Mckay
Popularity Paper Vol. 4
Amy Ignatow
Three against the tide
D. Anne Love
I remember the Alamo
D. Anne Love
Kate
Jean Little
One true way
Shannon Hitchcock
Poor Mallory! (The Baby-Sitters Club #39)
Ann M. Martin
Sara lost and found
Virginia Castleman
Gaby, lost and found
Angela Cervantes
Little women
Mary Sebag-Montefiore
Chasing the Milky Way
Erin E. Moulton
Slant
Laura E. Williams
After the ashes
Sara K. Joiner
Dear America:My Heart is on the Ground: the Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl, Carlisle Indian School, Pennsylvania, 1880
Ann Rinaldi
Drugs (Understanding Issues)
Gail Stewart
Understanding Issues - Divorce (Understanding Issues)
Gail B. Stewart
A dog called Homeless
Sarah Lean
Farewell, Dawn
Ann M. Martin
Mustang Flats
G. Clifton Wisler
Adrian and the Tree of Secrets
Hubert
Because of Winn-Dixie
Kate DiCamillo
Becky's brainstorm
Elaine L. Schulte
Children of Flight
Maria Armengol Acierno
Dear Canada: Orphan at My Door: The Home Child Diary of Victoria Cope, Guelph, Ontario, 1897
Jean Little
Devil's Den
Susan Beth Pfeffer
Dream on, Amber (reissue)
Emma Shevah
Early Sunday Morning
Barry Denenberg
Good-bye to the trees
Vicky Shiefman
Goodbye Marianne (Flyways)
Irene N. Watts
How it feels to have a gay or lesbian parent
Judith E. Snow
Inherited Family
Robert B. Fox
Jo's story
Susan Beth Pfeffer
Johnny Stands
Harry W. Paige
Little Women
Deanna McFadden
Lucy's Wish (Orphan Train Children)
Joan Lowery Nixon
No More No Name
Tim Tingle
Pieces of the picture
Barbara M. Joosse
So Far Bamboo Grove Related Readings Gr7 (The Glencoe literature library)
GLENCOE
Tangled in time
Lynne Fairbridge
That Scatterbrain Booky
Bernice Thurman Hunter
The Night Swimmers
Betsy Byars
Until the End of Summer
Elizabeth Ogilvie
What's the matter, girl?
Elizabeth Brochmann
Whispers in the Graveyard
Theresa Breslin
A boy called Bat
Elana K. Arnold
Have I found a gold mine?
Priscilla Galloway
Little women
Louisa May Alcott
Lost and found
Anne E. Schraff
Anne Hutchinson
Elizabeth Raum
The Desperate Search (An American Adventure, Book 2)
Lee Roddy
The air down here
Gil C. Alicea
The pants project
Cat Clarke
Children of exile
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Okay for now
Gary D. Schmidt
Sins of the father
Norah McClintock
The secret garden
Frances Hodgson Burnett
Treasure Hunters
James Patterson
Matilda
Roald Dahl
Not an Easy Win
Chrystal D. Giles
Diamonds in the shadow
Caroline B. Cooney
Romeo blue
Phoebe Stone
Unbound
Ann E. Burg
Prince William
Tamara L. Britton
Ramona and her father
Beverly Cleary
Prince William
Elaine Landau
The long winter
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little house in Brookfield
Maria D. Wilkes
On Top Of Concord Hill
Maria D. Wilkes
A Thousand Never Evers
Shana Burg
Have a nice day
Julie Halpern
Otherwise known as Possum
Maria D. Laso
Sally Hemings
Frances E. Ruffin
Starry River of the Sky
Grace Lin
Steering Toward Normal
Rebecca Petruck
Braving the fire
John B. Severance
Cat running
Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Let the circle be unbroken
Mildred D. Taylor
Roll of thunder, hear my cry
Mildred D. Taylor
For teens (ages 13+)
64 more books on this list are written for readers 13 and up. A few of them:
O Little Town (Hopes and Dreams, the Germans)
Tana Reiff
O Little Town (Hopes and Dreams, the Germans)
Tana Reiff
Complicit
Stephanie Kuehn
Complicit
Stephanie Kuehn
The lifeguard
Deborah Blumenthal
The lifeguard
Deborah Blumenthal
Tomboy : a graphic memoir
Liz Prince
Tomboy : a graphic memoir
Liz Prince
Trouble is a friend of mine
Stephanie Tromly
Trouble is a friend of mine
Stephanie Tromly
Ghetto cowboy
Greg Neri
Ghetto cowboy
Greg Neri
Pure Spring
Brian Doyle
Pure Spring
Brian Doyle
Thief Girl
Ingrid Lee
Thief Girl
Ingrid Lee
Zoli's Legacy
Dawn L. Watkins
Zoli's Legacy
Dawn L. Watkins
Treasured Thief
Ryan Foley
Treasured Thief
Ryan Foley
Wait for me
An Na
Wait for me
An Na
In my father's house
Ann Rinaldi
In my father's house
Ann Rinaldi
Nowhere to Hide
Kim Sigafus
Nowhere to Hide
Kim Sigafus
The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson
Mark Twain, Samuel Langhorne Clemens
The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson
Mark Twain, Samuel Langhorne Clemens
The Cat King of Havana
Toms Kreicbergs
The Cat King of Havana
Toms Kreicbergs
The war between the classes
Gloria D. Miklowitz
The war between the classes
Gloria D. Miklowitz
Leaving Glorytown
Eduardo F. Calcines
Leaving Glorytown
Eduardo F. Calcines
The summer I wasn't me
Jessica Verdi
The summer I wasn't me
Jessica Verdi
Whatever happened to Janie?
Caroline B. Cooney
Whatever happened to Janie?
Caroline B. Cooney
What Janie found
Caroline B. Cooney
What Janie found
Caroline B. Cooney
Never missing, never found
Amanda Panitch
Never missing, never found
Amanda Panitch
The secret life of Prince Charming
Deb Caletti
The secret life of Prince Charming
Deb Caletti
My lost and found life
Melodie Bowsher
My lost and found life
Melodie Bowsher
American Betiya
Anuradha D. Rajurkar
American Betiya
Anuradha D. Rajurkar
Questions parents ask about this list
- What's on this books about divorce & family change list?
- Books About Divorce & Family Change contains 119 books spanning Grade 1–8. Stories about divorce, separation, and blended families — helping kids understand that family changes are not their fault. Every book on the list is rated for reading level and content intensity so you can pick what matches your child.
- What age range is appropriate for this list?
- Books on this list span Grade 1–8. 38 (32%) are rated Gentle or Mild; 1 (1%) is rated Intense or Very Intense. Average intensity is 2.7/5. Match the intensity badge to your child's emotional readiness.
- How is this list curated?
- HootRated rates every book on this list for both reading level (text difficulty) and content intensity (emotional weight) — the two axes parents need to choose books. See our methodology for how books make a curated list.